The present invention relates to a plant protection system for use in providing environmental protection. More particularly, the present invention relates to a protection system for plants which utilizes a housing and an individual source of heat within the housing to protect against environmental extremes such as cold weather by shielding against the elements thereby providing maximum benefits from cultural practices.
In the growing of plants such as young citrus trees and other plants, there has been a need for protection of such plants against the extremes of weather, particularly freezing temperatures and high wind conditions. In the case of young citrus trees, for example, a condition known as the "super cooling effect", whereby high velocity winds at low temperatures and a low dew point cause moisture to evaporate at a very high rate, has been a serious threat and there has not previously been available an effective means of protecting young citrus trees from extensive damage and loss of trees due to such conditions.
By the present invention, there is provided a system which results in environmental regulating of the immediate surrounding area of a plant or multiple plants with individual housings which enable the use of outside sources of energy to provide plant protection as required. The present system also provides a protected control area for chemical application and shields the plant from outside sources of damage. The invention includes a housing which may be removable seasonally or left in place so long as it is of service to the plant. Various housing designs and constructions which utilize the principles of the basic concept as stated herein are within the scope of the present invention.
In one embodiment of the present invention, the housing is in the form of a truncated cone. Such a configuration is representative of a style of housing with specific characteristics which fulfill the requirements of the basic principles of the invention. However, it is intended that other forms of housing may be employed, of any design or shape which gives the specified results. Thus the housing may be a unit of any design which houses one or more plants and modifies the environmental conditions surrounding the plant so as to aid growth and husbandry practices while protecting vital parts of the plant from environmental and foreign damage by:
(1) enabling the application of heat to protect the plant from damaging cold; PA1 (2) preventing chill factors from creating super cold temperatures in the control area; PA1 (3) retaining maximum heat from applied energy; PA1 (4) shielding against damaging outside forces; PA1 (5) creating no adverse conditions for plant growth; PA1 (6) providing permanent and seasonal protection; PA1 (7) providing a protected control area for application of agricultural chemicals; and PA1 (8) creating a shielded central area for the plant or plants enclosed by the housing.
The present invention provides a system for protecting plants such as citrus trees as well as other types of trees and plants. In one embodiment, the present invention utilizes a housing or covering for the plant along with a source of water, with the water being emitted inside the housing in the form of an atomized spray so as to provide a controlled environment within the housing. The invention may be employed in a citrus grove of young trees, with a separate housing for each tree and with an irrigation system being employed to provide a source of water to the interior of each housing. The irrigation system may be tied in with a deep well which provides water at relatively constant year round temperatures such as about 70 to 72 degrees F. By emitting the water in the form of spray within the interior of the housing at ground level, and with the housing in one embodiment being of a generally conical shape with an open top, the warm water in spray form is caused to rise along the interior side walls of the cone shaped housing and to curl downwardly from the top of the housing in which a downwardly concave lip is provided, with the result that the heat from the relatively warm well water is transferred to the interior of the housing, thus creating conditions of 50 to 60 degrees F. temperatures within the interior or the housing while the ambient air temperature outside the housing may be approximately 16 to 20 degrees F. Such ambient temperatures would result in devastating damage if citrus trees were directly exposed to such conditions for any considerable time.